EAGER: Evolutionary responses to endocrine system dysregulation tested through independent losses of salamander metamorphosis.

内分泌系统是分泌激素的各种腺体的集合，这些激素通常是生理和发育过程的重要调节剂。激素的作用范围可以从控制血糖水平到将蝌蚪变成青蛙。激素在不同过程中的基本生物学作用表明，它们在塑造动物形态和功能方面非常重要。然而，激素的动态性质及其不同的反应对理解内分泌系统的改变如何影响动物进化提出了挑战。这项研究利用一组对甲状腺激素敏感性不同的蝾螈来测试内分泌系统的变化如何影响不同组织水平的进化模式。激素作用机制是动物系统的基本组成部分，在许多科学教育层面都很重要。该项目将包括中等教育生物学和进化的课程开发，以及进行综合生物学研究的本科生和研究生培训。这项研究将资助俄克拉荷马州教育工作者的比较和分子内分泌学的两个专业发展讲习班。这项研究将为内分泌系统进化对表型、转录组和基因组多样化的影响提供一个令人信服的测试。它也将作为一个模型来分析动态性状的演变。尽管所有的蝾螈都利用甲状腺激素来完成某些功能，但在某些幼态物种中，甲状腺激素在变态过程中变得失调。本研究将使用甲状腺激素控制的蝾螈变态的多个独立的损失，以测试激素失调如何影响形态，转录组和基因组多样化的模式。甲状腺激素的实验性治疗将用于测试双相和幼形幼形蝾螈幼虫之间的组织敏感性差异。来自实验的形态学和转录组学数据以及基因组数据将用于评估不同组织水平的进化速率。预测是甲状腺激素调节应该限制进化，而这种内分泌信号失调应该促进多样化。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The endocrine system is a collection of diverse glands that secrete hormones, which are often essential regulators of physiological and developmental processes. The actions of hormones can range from the control of blood glucose levels to the transformation of a tadpole into a frog. The fundamental biological roles of hormones in diverse processes suggest that they have been important in shaping animal form and function. However, the dynamic nature of hormones and their varying responses has presented challenges to understanding how alterations to the endocrine system have impacted animal evolution. This study utilizes a group of salamanders that vary in sensitivity to thyroid hormone to test how changes to the endocrine system influence patterns of evolution at different levels of organization. Mechanisms of hormone action are a fundamental part of animal systems, and are important at many levels of science education. This project will include curriculum development in organismal biology and evolution for secondary education, as well as undergraduate and graduate-level training in conducting integrative biology research. This research will fund two professional development workshops in comparative and molecular endocrinology for Oklahoma educators. This research will provide a compelling test of the consequences of endocrine system evolution on phenotypic, transcriptomic, and genomic diversification. It will also serve as a model for analyzing the evolution of dynamic traits. Even though all salamanders utilize thyroid hormone for at least some functions, in some paedomorphic species thyroid hormone has become dysregulated from metamorphosis. This research will use the multiple independent losses of thyroid hormone controlled metamorphosis in salamanders to test how hormone dysregulation influences patterns of morphological, transcriptomic, and genomic diversification. Experimental treatment with thyroid hormone will be used to test for differences in tissue sensitivity among the larvae of biphasic and larval form paedomorphic salamanders. Morphological and transcriptomic data from the experiment, as well as genomic data, will be used to evaluate rates of evolution across different levels of organization. The prediction is that thyroid hormone regulation should constrain evolution, while dysregulation of this endocrine signal should promote diversification.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.